1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for assembling a front end panel to a vehicle body in a front end structure of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a front end panel is secured to a vehicle body by bolts. The means described below have been adopted in order to absorb irregularities in size, upon manufacturing, of the front end panel and the vehicle body so as to secure the front end panel to the vehicle body at an appropriate relative position.
Namely, plural kinds of insertion holes, including a main reference hole in which a bolt is firstly inserted, a sub-reference hole in which a bolt is secondarily inserted and a loose-fit hole in which a bolt is inserted while absorbing a positional deviation, are provided in the front end panel, and the sequence of insertion of the bolts is strictly controlled.
The main reference hole has a diameter substantially identical to that of a bolt. The sub-reference hole is shaped like a slot to absorb irregularities in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction. The loose-fit hole has a diameter that is smaller than that of a bolt head and is sufficiently larger than that of the bolt, and the loose-fit hole is not used for positioning the bolt. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce a manufacturing cost of the front end panel because it is necessary to provide plural kinds of bolt holes in the front end panel.
Contrary to this, if all bolt-holes are replaced with loose-fit holes, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the front end panel. However, because a special tool is needed to hold the front end panel while the front end panel is positioned relative to the vehicle body, prior to the tightening of the bolts, the cost of equipment increases.